US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has issued a stark warning to trading partners, urging them to swiftly accept Washington’s terms or face the consequences of retaliatory tariffs as early as next month.
Speaking in Washington on Sunday, Bessent confirmed that the Biden administration was nearing conclusion of several trade agreements, but said time was running out for those reluctant to comply. “We’re close to securing several deals as always,” he said. “I would expect to see some big announcements coming in the next few days.”
The temporary pause on tariff enforcement ends on Wednesday, after which Washington is expected to reinstate duties on what Bessent described as “tens of countries”. These measures, he added, would escalate unless governments expedited negotiations or revised their existing trade terms.
“There are a lot of concerning issues evolving in the context of the US tariff imposition on the other side,” he said in an interview. In an apparent challenge to holdouts, Bessent remarked, “If you want to speed things up, have at it. If you want to go back to the old rate, that's your choice.”
Also read: Trump threatens 10% extra tariff on nations ‘aligning’ with BRICS
Defending the administration’s approach, Bessent said the move was neither unexpected nor unjustified. “The US is taking back what it should have earlier, there is nothing unfair in the system,” he said, contending that countries had exploited decades of tax exemptions.
He confirmed that President Trump would formally notify nations of the tariff hike deadline. “President Trump's going to be sending letters to some of our trading partners saying that if you don't move things along, then on August 1, you will boomerang back to your April 2 tariff level,” he stated.
The proposed rates, according to the President’s earlier remarks, may range from 60 or 70 per cent down to 10 or 20 per cent depending on the nature of the trade gap and strategic significance of the partner.
The Treasury Secretary also disclosed plans to send out “100 letters to small countries where we don’t have much trade”, but clarified that the primary targets were “18 important trading countries that account for 95 per cent of our trade deficit.”
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